NEWARK, N.J. (December 4, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team scored the first nine points of the game and never looked back, defeating non-conference foe Wilkes University 59-43 Monday night in The Golden Dome.
 
Rutgers-Newark improves to 5-3 overall ahead of Wednesday evening New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup at Ramapo College. Wilkes drops to 2-4 overall with the loss.
 
Junior guard Faith Ashby led the Scarlet Raiders with a game-high 17 points, adding six assists and five steals in another strong all-around performance. Sophomore Hannah Ashby totaled 12 points, five rebounds and two steals, and senior forward Nicole Skelly notched nine points and a game-high 12 boards. Sophomore Autumn Webster – just like Skelly – just missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, and she added a trio of helpers and two thefts to her line. Freshman Barbara Hairs-Jackson was also solid, tallying nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
The Rutgers-Newark defense was suffocating throughout, giving up just 43 points in total and holding the Lady Colonels to 24.1 percent shooting. The Scarlet Raiders totaled 10 steals and five blocks, finishing the game plus-three in the turnover battle. R-N shot 38.8 percent from the floor and 2-for-9 from deep, ending the contest with a 48-42 margin on the glass.
 
"I thought we showed we are really starting to come together after a couple tough games," said Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki after the win. "We did a nice job at the start, but I was most impressed with how strong we finished."
 
Webster jump-started Newark with an early three-pointer, and the Raider D did not allow a guest point until 3:20 into the action. Hairs-Jackson put away a feed from Faith Ashby to give Rutgers-Newark its first double-digit lead of the night, and Wilkes would get no closer than seven (23-16) the rest of the way.
 
Late in the first half, Webster hit a free throw, stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to send Rutgers-Newark into the locker room with a 36-20 lead. She then took a rebound coast-to-coast to start the second to up the host advantage to 18.
 
Wilkes would slice the lead down to 13 after three and 12 (52-40) with 4:02 left, but Rutgers-Newark tightened up the defensive intensity to close out the win.
 
Twice the Scarlet Raiders allowed less than 10 points in a quarter (first and fourth), and R-N has now held the opposition to 60 points or less in seven-straight games. Newark has held its foes below 50 points in four of its eight games to date.
 
Forward Catey McFadden tallied team-bests in points (eight) and rebounds (nine) for Wilkes, adding four blocks and two steals as well.
 
"Our defense was good tonight and has been solid throughout," added Cieplicki. "We need to make sure that continues Wednesday night in a big conference game. It will be key to come out strong, play great defense and finish."
 
Rutgers-Newark and Ramapo will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. from the Bradley Center in Mahwah Wednesday. The Scarlet Raiders will be looking to move to 2-2 in league action.